


blurry landscapes

by antarcticas



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Freeverse, Multi, a collection of poems, angsty atla characters, more relationships will be added
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-19
Updated: 2020-08-31
Packaged: 2021-03-06 00:08:05
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 523
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25984129
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/antarcticas/pseuds/antarcticas
Summary: it’s a funny story, except the earth isbeating & the sky is trembling & the oceanis shaking beneath your struggling feet.[freeverses: multicharacter]
Relationships: Aang & Katara (Avatar), Aang & Ozai (Avatar), Aang & Zuko (Avatar), The Gaang & Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 12





	1. zuko i

_ I sleep. I dream.  _ _   
_ _ I make up things that I would never say.  _ _   
_ _ I say them very quietly. _ _   
_ _ — richard siken —  _

_ / _

you are standing at the hull of a boat.   
_ again. _

**prince,** _ exile,  _ traitor:   
hate enters your throat   
and suffocates you. 

it’s a funny story, except the earth is   
beating & the sky is trembling & the ocean   
is shaking beneath your struggling feet.

poor boy, with the  _ palace  _ &   
the  _ gold  _ & the  _ love  _ — except —

your  **palace** is carved out of   
bones & blood & skin   
and your stomach turns itself apart   
when you stand your ground   
and set yourself aflame

your  **gold** is built upon   
tanks & metal & flames   
and you can see your cousin   
in your mind’s eye when   
you see a wall falling down

your  **love** was a fever dream made of   
mother & father & azula   
and you can feel the sun across   
your almost blind visage as   
you realize that you have  _ nothing. _

you realize  **this:** you never did.

(that boy   
on that boat,   
shooting sparks    
and holding maps:   
you miss him.)

/

you are standing in front of your people.   
_ finally. _

this time your skin   
is burning with exhilaration &   
you smile.

you have to. this is not   
a funny story. this is the    
end of a war. you’re hilarious.

there is a  **palace** behind your shoulder,   
a courtyard burned with the remnants   
of what could have been  **love,** and    
you have lost _everything_ for the  **gold** crown    
weighing down your head. 

/

_ how much can you change and get away with it, _ _   
_ _ before you turn into someone else,  _ _   
_ _ before it's some kind of murder? _ _   
_ __ — richard siken — 

__


	2. aang i

_you'd break your heart to make it bigger,_ _  
_ _so why not crack your skull_ _  
_ _when the mind swells_ _  
_ _— richard siken —_

_/_

you are too **young** **  
**to carry the weight of the world  
on your shoulders & yet

everyone is so _proud_ as they watch   
you stumble & hit the floor

/

it’s a game! let’s score  
and count out your losses

ready player one: your **family**  
[you wake up a hundred   
times later, all the same,   
and the sunset looks like blood]

ready player two: the **icicle**   
[you burn her hands and   
throw him into the ocean,   
but your memory is fickle]

ready player three: an **apocalypse**   
[the earth is not home,   
and you are peace, you are   
the calmness of the stone]

ready player four: their **ending**   
[every step you take is a betrayal   
and you see these mighty pillars and think   
you will never be forgiven]

/

how hard can it be when  
your entire story is   
essentially just   
you and the past and   
others who last but   
it goes too fast

/

your lips move apart  
because you want to do the _right thing —_ _  
_ this is wrong, so strange, isn’t it so   
_terrible_ that the universe is moving against   
you at that very moment

(you look inside yourself and  
your bones argue and   
your blood starts to sing)

/

when the comet falls you  
touch the stars   
and fall back down   
and ask to repent:

the sky is still bleeding &  
the dust of your beginning   
shouldn’t taste   
like   
sacrifice

[but it scalds you]

/

 _this is also part of the story:_ _  
_ _how the story changes_   
— richard siken — 

**Author's Note:**

> inspired by Richard Siken -- a lot of quotes will be from his book 'War of the Foxes'. the title is from this: “When you have nothing to say, set something on fire. A blurry landscape is useless.”
> 
> this isn't a fic & I don't have an updating schedule, it's just my place to distract myself from my writing WIPs. I will be writing more though :D


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